


blushes like tulips

by catraapplesauce



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, F/M, Fluff, gift for mal (novas-tunnel-of-anxiety on tumblr), ily!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catraapplesauce/pseuds/catraapplesauce
Summary: "The door opens, and for a moment Kai is grateful. A new customer, a new distraction. His eyes stop short when he realizes who it is.Brown hair haphazardly pulled into a ponytail, baggy cargo pants, and a sleeve of tattoos like armor. Cinder.Kai can’t stop the grin creeping up his cheeks. “Another tattoo inspiration?” he asks when she approaches.“How’d you guess?” she teases, a smirk appearing on her own lips. It's not cruel, but just teasing, like she wants him to blush the same shade as the tulips displayed on the counter."
Relationships: Kai/Linh Cinder
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	blushes like tulips

When she walks in, the girl heads straight for the counter, eyes surveying the surrounding plants quickly, only stopping to sneeze at the sudden influx of pollen for a moment. She has her dark hair up in a ponytail and tattoos run up the length of her left arm like a gauntlet. She is strikingly noticeable among all the bright tulips and roses and magnificent ferns. 

Kai plasters on his customer service smile. She doesn’t seem  _ angry _ , she just seems like she wants to be in and out of the flower shop as quickly as possible. He’s never understood those kinds of people, the ones that don’t take interest in stopping to admire the natural world, but he has seen furious customers and is grateful for each one that equips their common sense. 

“Welcome!” he says cheerfully. “What can I do for you today?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m looking for…” she trails off, glancing down at her phone screen. Kai noticed the spiderweb cracks over its surface and can’t help but wonder what could have caused so much damage. “Amaryllis?”

“That’s a nice choice! How many are you looking for?”

“Just one would be fine,” she replies. She holds up her left arm, and Kai can see the ink scrawled across it more clearly. He spots a large peony flower before she lowers her arm again. “I’m a tattoo artist, and I need a reference for a customer. Figured with your shop being across the street and all, the real thing might be easier to work with.”

Kai’s eyes widened a little in realization. There was a tattoo parlor across the street, but he knew nothing about who owned it. He’d considered the idea of getting one, but he couldn’t think of anything that seemed significant enough. Plus, he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of getting stabbed with a needle over and over just for something he might regret.

“That’s really cool!” He said because frankly, it was. He sets the aforementioned flower in front of her, careful not to crush it. “Is that all for today?”

She nods and he gets her name- Cinder Linh- and before he knows it she’s out of the shop and back across the street. 

Cinder never truly left Kai’s mind after their initial encounter, he just thinks there’s no reason for him to see her again. He’s content with his calm little flower shop, and she has her tattoo parlor. They live in completely different worlds, he reasons. Their paths crossed by coincidence, and that was the end of that. 

Except it wasn’t.

It had been a few weeks since Cinder came in to claim her amaryllis, and Kai found himself sitting in the backroom, intently scouring social media for any sign of her. He kept a profile or two for his own shop, hoping to garner some attention with elaborate flower arrangements and seasonal favorites. However, it appeared Cinder didn’t have an online presence anywhere he looked.

Kai groaned in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair, a few stray locks falling into his eyes. He made a mental note to get a trim before forcing himself to close his laptop. He had a business to run, and having a girl he met  _ once _ stuck in his mind wasn’t helping to achieve that. 

The store was empty save for a short blonde girl intently inspecting the petunias over in the corner. The place was rarely packed, but it was still nice to have so much quiet, usually. This time, though, Kai wished for a distraction from his racing thoughts. 

The door opens, and for a moment Kai is grateful. A new customer, a new distraction. His eyes stop short when he realizes who it is. 

Brown hair haphazardly pulled into a ponytail, baggy cargo pants, and a sleeve of tattoos like armor. _ Cinder. _

Kai can’t stop the grin creeping up his cheeks. “Another tattoo inspiration?” he asks when she approaches.

“How’d you guess?” she teases, a smirk appearing on her own lips. It's not cruel, but just teasing, like she wants him to blush the same shade as the tulips displayed on the counter.

Kai laughs, a genuine one not brought on by nervousness like he is so accustomed to. It bubbles up in his chest and feels like tasting his mother’s homemade cookies fresh out of the oven or a corny joke his father made that’s so terrible it's funny. 

He settles himself a little, gaze softening. “Just a hunch.”

Cinder then rambles off some intricate flower meaning a customer requested and Kai retrieves it. As she leaves he waves, and when she returns it with a smile Kai allows himself to be a little hopeful.

Cinder comes back the next week. Kai smiles and laughs and blushes the shade of the tulips and lets the euphoric bubbly feeling return with her. 

Cinder’s visits also become more regular. She requests not only singular flowers but full bouquets, and Kai wonders what she does with them. A sick loved one? A friend? A lover? His heart ached at the possibility of the latter but forced it down. She had a right to have her own life without the input of some random florist. Her company was enjoyable regardless. 

After a month or two, Kai finds himself across the street, staring up at the old brick building. He had deliberated for weeks about this, it would be fine. His mind was made, there was no going back.

The door had a small bell, to his surprise, and was oddly charming for what he expected of a tattoo parlor. Another thing he discovered was just how much this tattoo parlor was full of surprises. On every available surface, there were  _ flowers. _ Kai’s flower shop held hundreds of varieties, and Cinder had somehow collected most of them. The parlor was covered in dark brick and industrial piping, but the blooms offset it in a very pleasant way.

Cinder was crouched behind the main counter, tell-tale ponytail peeking out. “I’ll be with you in a second!” she called. Kai awkwardly held his hands behind his back, anxiety slightly growing.

She popped up and dusted off her pants, before noticing Kai. Her eyes widened in shock.

“Well. I didn’t expect to see you here,” Cinder stuttered out, regaining her composure. 

“To be fair, I didn’t expect to have a reason to come here.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “ _ You,  _ of all people, are getting a tattoo?”

“Yeah.” He took his hands from behind his back and produced an amaryllis bloom. He blushed a little before muttering, “I thought maybe this would do.”

A blush found its way onto Cinder’s cheeks. “You can’t be serious…” was all she could whisper, shyly ducking her head a little. Was this a good reaction? Kai wondered, feeling a little embarrassed himself, but also noting that  _ it was that same shade as the tulips. _

“Also,” he cleared his throat. “I was wondering… I mean don’t feel any pressure, but uh. Would you want to, like, get coffee sometime?” Now their cheeks were both that soft, tulip shade, and Kai immediately wondered why he thought this was a good idea.

“Yeah,” she brightened. “I think I’d like that.”

His heart skipped a beat and they stood smiling at each other for a long moment. Kai felt happy like he never thought he would before, standing in a tattoo parlor of all places. He let himself bask in it, not afraid to hide his almost-idiotic grin.

“Now then, let’s get you that tattoo, shall we?"

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift on the MM Nets Discord server for Mal (novas-tunnel-of-anxiety on Tumblr!) Ily, merry Christmas! <3


End file.
